What Fratianno disregarded as damaging bias---nepotism---is a feature of the Mafia, not a bug.
Un-gangster-like mafiosi and their function in Mafia families
The 1933 Murder of Vito Rizzuto
Fifty years before the Rizzuto Family wrested control of Montreal from the Violi brothers, the Rizzuto family patriarch was murdered in an unlikely place. The murder of patriarch Vito Rizzuto and a brief history of the Rizzuto and Renda families, 1925-2025.
Famiglia Vagabonda of West Virginia
West Virginia was the adopted home of thousands of Italian miners and their families... and the Mafia that preyed upon them.
Capone comes swinging
After the Valentine’s Day Massacre, three of Al Capone’s top men were found dead. Legend has it that Capone beat them himself with a baseball bat.
What was the Black Hand?
“Black Hand” became the term of art for “Italian crime” in New York City newspapers after a 1903 Brooklyn case of extortion.
The Alioto families of San Francisco and Milwaukee
Mayor Joseph Alioto's paternal relatives and in-laws were important members of Mafia Families in San Francisco and Dallas. But what about Milwaukee?
Five Families subway map
Now you can buy the Five Families subway map on a T-shirt or a poster.
Nick and Carlo Licata of Detroit and Los Angeles
According to the legend, Nick Licata’s comfortable position in Detroit was pulled out from under him when he somehow offended Joseph Zerilli, one of the most powerful gangsters in the city.
The Campisi family of Dallas, Texas
The Campisi family of Dallas, Texas, famous for a chain of restaurants and friendships with notorious gangsters, has always claimed the rumors are just that.
The victims of the 1891 New Orleans lynching
Eleven Sicilian men were killed by an organized mob of white men. Eight more escaped their would-be killers by hiding in the prison. The merciless attack on defenseless prisoners in a New Orleans jail is remembered as a hate crime. It also deserves recognition for another reason: as a decisive Mafia battle.
Mafia Genealogy 